


Weight of the World

by Abstract_Chameleon



Category: RWBY
Genre: Fluff with Angst, M/M, One Shot, cheesy kiss, how do I summary, sorry i wrote this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 05:36:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6143197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Abstract_Chameleon/pseuds/Abstract_Chameleon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>James Ironwood had always considered himself the pillar that separated the world from all unimaginable evil, but when his failure on the night Cinder Fall attacked resulted in Ozpin's disappearance, he found himself full of regret. He was not alone in his regrets, however, as Qrow Branwen had been dealing with the same internal struggle.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Weight of the World

**Author's Note:**

> So, I've been waiting to get into Ao3 for several weeks for the sake of my posting my RWBY fics here. Most of my RWBY OTPs are rare pairs, and posting rare pair fics on FF.net is like posting to a brick wall. I've been shamelessly lurking the IronQrow tag here (and tumblr) as a guest for a while, but I finally got in this morning! Yay!
> 
> I'm not entirely proud of this. I feel like I could have done better, but whatever. I have a much longer and thought out IronQrow fic planned, so hopefully that will make up for this... sappy... thing...
> 
> Well, thanks for reading! Enjoy!

    General James Ironwood was rumored to be a heartless man.  It was a well-known fact that he was stern, cold, and almost ruthless in battle, and he commanded those beneath him in a similar fashion.  Hardheaded, he was difficult to deal with, and he always seemed to believe that he was one-hundred percent correct about everything until the moment his plans were crushed.  For this reason, many who were not close to James avoided dealing with him altogether, and even his few but close friends tended to dismiss him quickly.

    Despite all this, the old general hated arguments, especially in business situations.  He was the sort of man who liked to pretend that everyone agreed with him, and if they did not, he would simply wave them off as stupid.  People who habitually pointed out flaws in his methods irked him tremendously.  After all, a man of his rank was not used to being questioned or disrespected.

    Contrary to his confident exterior, James Ironwood had a lot of past screw ups that he was very ashamed of.  He had lost half of his upper body in a reckless fight, a part of him that would never fully be restored.  To preserve his life, those parts of him were replaced with cybernetic prosthetics, but things would never be the same.  After his injury, he became obsessed with mechanics and artificial life, going so far as to collaborate with an old friend of his on the project of his lifetime — the creation of a real human girl from little more than metal and wires.  This robotic child became his pride and joy, and he sought to protect her at all costs.  Sadly, it was thanks to his own folly that he lost her; she was torn apart much like he had been, only she could never recover.  Later on that very night, his own army of machines turned on him thanks to a hack in his programming set up by Roman Torchwick — also his own fault for not installing a stronger security system in his own defenses.  He almost died that night at the hands of his own rebellious creations had it not been for… that man.

    James brushed the thought aside.  Every memory of that night pained him.  He had failed, failed to protect Penny, failed to protect the citizens of Vale, failed to protect the world.  He had failed Ozpin who employed him, failed Atlas who had sent him, failed all the kingdoms who had relied on him to be their savior.  See, James held himself responsible for the earth and all its troubles.  He felt as if it was his duty to hold the world together, to keep the kingdom in place, but he had let everyone down.  The brazen general was embarrassed to say the least.  He felt ashamed of himself and his irresponsibility.  If he could have, he never would have shown his face in public.  He never would have shown himself to Ozpin again, never dragged his sorry ass back into that office room to apologize for the millionth time.  But something even worse had happened.  Ozpin had gone missing.  James would have been a liar if he said that he had not spent several drunk nights crying over the sins he would never be able to atone.  Now he was forced to live with the regret for eternity, and there was nothing he could ever do to make it up to the man who earned his respect, who treated him like a son, who always forgave him unconditionally.

    So there he found himself in the passenger seat of a helicopter back to Vale, acting completely against his impulse to run away.  In the back of his mind, he had resolved that he needed to do something for the citizens of Vale whose lives he had put in danger, even if Ozpin would never know. 

    However, there was another reason he felt called to Vale, a reason he desperately did not want to come to terms with.  He felt indebted to that man who had saved his life, the reckless hunter Qrow Branwen.  Qrow was the personification of everything he disliked.  The man was brash, irrational, quick to argue, and seemingly brainless.  Yet every time he thought of Qrow, his heart tightened in his chest and he felt tingly all over.  He couldn't determine the reason for these unfamiliar feelings, but they bothered him endlessly, and he wanted to put an end to them.

    The helicopter descended and slowed to an abrupt end, causing the general to grab the fabric of his pant legs in subconscious anxiety.  He glanced outside and grimaced, reluctant to open the door like a student getting out of bed on the morning of a dreaded test.  Once the pilot turned off the engine, James tried to put his fears aside, stepped outside onto the dusty pavement, and caught his straining breath.

    The world around him looked desolate and pitiful.  Buildings sagged and crumbled beside heaps of rubble that once formed structures.  Dilapidated business signs and advertisement boards were scattered in small heaps created by the wind.  Dirt and waste littered the streets, and trash swirled in the wind along with the crisp autumn leaves.  Brown grass grew through cracks in the sidewalk, shadowed by dying trees that sagged over the city.  Everything had nearly been destroyed by Cinder Fall and the White Fang in the previous fight, and all anyone could do was brace for further destruction while trying to repair the damage that had already been done.  James frowned and sighed sadly, but he kept moving.

    Eventually, he reached the middle of the city, where the remainders of Beacon Academy were laid to rest.  Portions of the building were still intact, but an unknowing onlooker would never have guessed that the rubble once belonged to a great school of hunters and huntresses in training.  James stepped past heaps of wreckage and crumbling brick as he approached a small mound of debris in the center of the broken building.  Unlike the other piles of debris, this mound was intentionally placed.  After tossing aside cement beams and chips of plaster, the general found himself staring into a gaping black hole with a thin ladder descending down into the blackness.  There was a musty smell with a lingering scent of blood that came from the void.  James swallowed and began to make his way down.

    His fleshy hand trembled as he descended into the darkness.  The ladder was very rickety, and he feared with every second that the frail wood would snap and leave him falling to his death.  After climbing downwards for several minutes, James could no longer see a thing.  He swore profusely, heartbeat racing, but it did nothing to help calm his nerves.  Eventually, he saw a faint light below him, giving him hope.  He bit his lip and climbed faster with more purpose until he reached the bottom.  When he reached the end, he grunted, exhaled, and took a deep breath for fear of his nerves shattering.

    Taking a long glance around as he walked, James noticed that nothing much had changed to Beacon’s vault since the last time he’d been there.  The only difference, he thought, was that everyone was alive and well back then.  Now, everything had fallen apart and gone to hell, and in James’s mind, it was up to him to fix all the mistakes he had caused in the first place.

    The smell of death grew stronger.

    At the far end of the vault stood Qrow Branwen, face to the wall and hands crossed.  He hovered over the rotting corpse of what appeared to be a young woman.  An arrow still tipped with blood lay in between him and the corpse.  It was a lonely graveyard for a maiden, and the horror of her death still lingered in the atmosphere.

    “Mr. Branwen,” James began, trying to keep his voice as still and calm as possible.  The scruffy hunter stiffened and turned to face him slowly.  “I have come to ask… I have come to thank you for saving my life, and I wanted to inform you that, despite my mistakes, the remainder of my army would still be willing to ally with you in the current war if you would forgive me.”  His tongue tripped over each word awkwardly, and he felt his flesh hand tremble at his side.  He bowed his head to hide his face that was written all over in shame.

    The other man smirked and clucked his tongue against the roof of his mouth.  “You don’t have to thank me for saving your ass, Jimmy.  I can't afford to let anyone else die, even you.  And as for the army, I think I'll do just fine without a bunch of lousy robots.”  He took a long drink from his flask and spat, refusing to look the general in the eye.

    James grimaced.  His words couldn't have stung more.  They made the odd feeling in his chest grow worse, made him feel like he was naked, exposed, and weak.  “...Is that all you see me as, Mr. Branwen? A useless robot?”

    Qrow’s eyes widened, and he scoffed under his breath.  “Don’t be silly.  You aren't—”

    “But I am,” the general interjected.  “Half of my body is, at least.  You saw me in the battle.  Without those robotic parts, I'd be dead.”

    “That doesn't mean you’re a brainless fool like those things we fought.  You may be heartless, but I know you have willpower.”

    James chuckled with a glint of sorrow in his eyes.  “Heartless? ...Never mind.  Just…  Mr. Branwen, I want you to know that you aren't alone in this war.  You don’t have to feel like the only one in charge of everything.”

    The hunter rolled his eyes and took another sip from his flask.  “Oh yeah, Jimmy? Is that cuz you're gonna try to take control of everything and screw it up like you always do?”

“I never said I—”

    “But you don’t need to say anything.  I know you, and I'm not letting you take control of shit here.  I've seen your idea of safety, and I’ve seen what it really is.  Ain't what I call pretty.”

    James felt his face heating up.  He clenched his fists and inhaled.  “I'm not here to take over.  Don’t you understand? Ozpin wouldn't have wanted that.  I'm here because of Ozpin.  I'm here because he would have wanted you in charge, and I only want to help you.  You aren't Ozpin.  No one is.  You need help.  Please don't make the same mistakes I have.  You can't do this alone.”

    “Don't talk about Ozpin like you knew him,” Qrow hissed.  His eyes lit up and glowed with defensive anger.  His face was the face of an enraged drunk man about to let loose.  James braced himself.  “You weren't close to him like I was.  He treated me like I was his own goddamned son.  I did everything for him and his ideals, and now he’s fucking gone, and nothing you can do will change that.”

    The general sighed.  “I understand that.  That's why I know he would have wanted you in charge.  Just let me help.  I lost him too.”

    Qrow snorted in laughter.  “You're gonna talk about losing people, Jimmy? I've lost my sister and best friend, and now I've lost Ozpin.  I was supposed to be there for Yang, and she lost her fucking arm!  I was supposed to protect Amber, and now she’s dead!”  He gestured to the corpse behind him.  “What have you lost?” He spat again.

    The tired general glared him in the eye unblinkingly.

    “Penny Polendina.”

    The dark-haired man paused, shaking himself from his rage to think.  “...The android girl?”

    James nodded.  “She was my invention, but she was more than that to me.  She was like a daughter to me.”

    The two men stared at each other in the eye for several minutes.  James bit his lip nervously, fighting back tears.  Qrow’s facial expression softened, and he tucked his flask into his coat pocket.

    “I’m sorry,” Qrow finally spoke.  “I don't mean in a condolences kinda way.  I'm sorry for implying you hadn't lost anyone.  I spoke too soon.  I know what it feels like, having a daughter who ain’t really yours.”

    James nodded slowly and inched closer to the rugged hunter, tightening the space between them.  His heartbeat sped up, but he tried to ignore it.  “Mr. Branwen, if you’d please just consider —”

    “Qrow.  Just call me Qrow, Jimmy.”

    James’s lip twitched at the use of the nickname.  “Qrow.  Please consider allying with the remainder of my army.  Please.  I implore you.  We can't win this war alone.”

    “You won't take no for an answer, huh?” Qrow teased.  “Don't worry.   I'd be an idiot to reject any alliances with the other kingdoms, especially Atlas.  Oz wouldn't want me to turn you away, anyway.  He always saw something good in you.”

    The old general smiled.  “I'm sure you'll make a great leader, Qrow.  You'll make him — Qrow?!?”

    The drunken warrior had started shaking.  Tears slid down his cheeks, and he dropped his face in a futile attempt to conceal them.  He wrung his hands and started to wobble as if he was about to fall over.

    James grabbed his shoulders to steady him.  “Qrow? What’s wrong? How much goddamned liqueur did you drink?”  The smaller man simply continued to shake and silently cry.  After several minutes, he fell on the general’s chest and sobbed silently.  James was too shocked to move at first, but he eventually wrapped an arm around the hunter's thin waist and patted his head.   It had been almost a decade since James had even hugged anyone, so he simply comforted Qrow in the same way he would have comforted a crying child.

    “What if I fucking fail? What if I fail just like I failed Summer and Amber? What would Oz think if I let him down? What would my girls think?”

    James held his quivering body closer to his chest.  “Then you get back up and try again.  Everyone fails sometimes.  I've…  I've failed more times than I can count.  You just have to pick yourself back up and fix things again.  But you won't be alone, I promise.  I'm going to be here for you, and I'm sure Glynda will be too.”

    Qrow sniffled a bit and took a shaky breath, slowly lifting his head from the larger man’s chest.  “I don’t wanna let my girls down, Jimmy.  They've been let down so many times.”

    “You won't.  As long you don't give up, they'll still look up to you.  That much I know.”

    The hunter nodded, brushed his tears away, and straightened himself.  “I'm sorry.  That was uncalled for.  All of it.  Ain’t like me to snap and then start crying like a baby.”

James shook his head and gripped Qrow’s shoulders, looking him in the eye.  “Qrow, you don't have to pretend.  You don't have to be tough all the time.  You can trust me…  Okay?”

    Qrow chewed on his lip.  Uncomfortable silence drifted between the two men.

    James felt his pulse race.  He grunted and swallowed his pride.

    “I really must get this weight off my chest, Qrow.  ...I've been admiring you for a while, I think.  I really hate to admit this, but every time I think of you, I get this weird feeling and I don’t know how to get rid of it.  It almost feels like—”

    The crow like man laughed under his breath.  “You goddamned idiot, you.  How could I have thought you were heartless?”

    James didn't know how to react when his lips were pressed against Qrow’s in what felt like a split second.  The hunter smelt like alcohol and dirt, while the slightly older man smelt of cologne and sweat.  Qrow cupped James’s face in his rough hands and pressed deeper into him.  The inexperienced general could only wrap his arms around Qrow’s waist once again and hope the other man did not find him too awkward.

    When they parted, Qrow had a mischievous smirk on his face, while James’s eyes were wide as saucers.  “Dust, you look like you just had your first kiss,” the first man scoffed.

    “I…  I did,” James confessed, swearing internally at the blush that warmed his cheeks.

    “Seriously? Damn.”  Qrow laughed.  “How could a man as attractive as you go so long without a first kiss?”

    The general sighed and chuckled.  “The fact that I had a crush on Glynda for the larger part of my life probably didn’t help.”

    The hunter snorted.  “For Dust’s sake, how many women did she have to date before you realized she wasn’t interested in you?”

    “A lot, I guess.”

    Awkward silence filled the hall.  “...So, you have a crush on me, huh?” Qrow blurted.

    The general shifted his feet.  “I think so.  I still don't quite understand my feelings.  I just want to be here for you, and my heart races when I'm close to you like this.  ...That sounded so foolish.”

    The hunter’s smirk grew.  “Damn, you’re hot when you’re flustered, Jimmy.”  He leaned in and pecked his lips briskly.  “You don't have to be alone either.  This whole saving-the-world-thing is only gonna work if we get along, and I wouldn't mind if it meant we got a little closer, too.”

    James nodded and smiled, not the charismatic smile he was forced to wear at public events, but a genuine smile that was full of hope and affection.  He took the Qrow’s hand and squeezed it.  “So, we’re a thing now?” he asked hopefully.

    The other man nodded and returned his smile.

    “Shit.   What will Glynda think? What will your girls think?”

    Qrow chuckled.  “Eh.  We'll break it to ‘em slow.  I think Yang’s been trying to come out for a while now.   Maybe this will help her feel better about herself in the long run.”

    James nodded again.  “You're right.  Maybe others will see it the same way, too.  But regardless of what people think, I'm sticking by your side, Qrow.  Even if you are a pain the ass.”

    “Hey!” Qrow snapped, snarling at the older man. 

    James laughed softly.  “Let’s get going, soldier.  We have a world to save.” 


End file.
